I've just been thinking about this the last couple days and the current state of the roster. The Falcons lost Tony G to retirement, Roddy White isn't getting young, S-Jax was a shell of his former self. Sure, Atlanta helped plug the hole at RG which will certainly help. But, Atlanta still has Baker at LT who, when healthy, has been OK to Above Average and no one has proven to be more than average at RT. The Falcon receiver depth behind White & Jones is non-existent and we have no weapons at TE.

The only way this offense proves to be effective is if the offensive line takes a big step forward in pass protection and Matt Ryan can channel Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in their prime and Jackson channels his prime years.

I'll be curious to see how the draft goes and see if Atlanta attempts to address issues at TE & WR. We are just one injury away from the offense collapsing if it even proves to be as effective as everyone hopes.

We are certainly better than average.....though with the three headed monster now 1.5 heads, the play designs and calling must improve. Julio is a beast, when healthy and father time is catching up with Twitter White. After that, we are pretty thin and hopefully we can restock the cupboards soon.

And call it a hunch, but S-Jax will have a big year.....running and receiving.

This team's offense has been suffering for a number of years because of an inability to win battles at the line of scrimmage. We have a top notch QB, and a pair of top notch receivers. We also have one of better RB's in the league, though he does have quite a bit of wear on the tires. If we can upgrade the offensive line, and do a better job with our game planning, we should be a top 10 offense without a problem.

I maybe over reacting or not. I just don't see how losing Tony G, adding an average to above-average RG and then doing nothing else fixes the offense.

The Falcons are banking far too much on Hawley continuing to build on his last few weeks of last season, Baker getting healthy and playing 16-games while rebounding, and someone rising up to take the RT role.

Above and beyond that Atlanta has no answer for the loss of TG and they've not improved the receiver core in anyway-shape-or-form, and it remains to be seen which version of Steven Jackson shows up and it's not like we have depth there either.

Steven Jackson wasn't the issue. When you run behind a god awful offensive line, you're pretty much screwed. There were, perhaps, a handful of plays through last season where each offensive lineman won their battle. If you don't win those battles, your RB isn't going anywhere, and it doesn't matter who your RB is.

Steven Jackson is a below average starter, but much closer to middle of the pack than Turner was. But I certainly wouldn't call him one of the "better" RBs in league. Like most starters, he's capable of getting you 1000, but not much more. Its somewhat a self fulfilling prophecy when it comes to RBs being a dime a dozen. The deemphasis on running plus lesser investments in the position, means the league is flooded with average runners. Guys with fresher legs and lower salaries that are capable of similar feats as starting RBs (e.g. Zac Stacy, Chris Ivory, etc.)

Also the offense, without major scheme change will be heavily dependent on the health of Julio Jones. They're a dink/dunk team that will rely heavily of Julio & Roddy to move the chains, with the occasional splash play from Julio. With an OL that can pass protect well, this style of offense should be highly efficient (if guys stay healthy) but will likely be easily shut down by the top tier defenses of the conference come January because it will be severely deficient in explosiveness.

Whatever contribution the Falcons get from the ground game is gravy, because it's still very likely to be underwhelming by league standards. Now if the Falcons managed to land Robinson, that could change...

They're a dink/dunk team that will rely heavily of Julio & Roddy to move the chains, with the occasional splash play from Julio. With an OL that can pass protect well, this style of offense should be highly efficient (if guys stay healthy) but will likely be easily shut down by the top tier defenses of the conference come January because it will be severely deficient in explosiveness.

I feel real bad about the Atlanta Falcons. Pudge's quote is right on the money and notice he says we could be highly efficient if we could pass protect... We Can't, and this year it will really start to effect Matt Ryan. No team stays healthy all year and Thomas D. has really let us downon having ready reserves.

I want to say good things about the Falcons but we've entered this off season like last year was a fluke. If we had a decent lineman for every 3rd round or 4th round corner back not on the team anymore we'd be looking good!!

I'm afraid this is the year Thomas D. and Mike Smith go. Will Arthur keep them at 8-8? I really can't see it much better than that.....I've never been a NOLAN fan and to turn us into a 3-4 is not the answer in my opinion.

Well I've been wrong a lot, and hopefully this is one of those times. It seems Thomas D. saw his press clippings too much for the first 3 years; and the last 3 he's just not been an average Gm. I still have the faith IN Mike Smith but what are you going to do when the other players are better than yours?? Folks can say get more explosive but with what without blockers??

I wouldn't feel this way but I think we need more players this year than we did last year?? It wasn't until last year that we saw the linemen Thomas D. had collected we not ready for prime time!! Who even showed promise?? I love the Falcons but can't see where the front office is getting the job done. (AGAIN) We can draft everybody but few rookies matter!!

I'll continue to stress this Cyril. The Falcons can become more explosive by becoming more explosive. The OL helps you execute better, but it doesn't stop you from trying to throw down the field. The problem starts with the fact that the Falcons DO NOT TRY to throw down the field. They now have Devin Hester, who is better at stretching the field than Harry Douglas and thus it should start with the team trying to mix him in as the WR3 more than Douglas. It should also be based around an offense that doesn't rely so heavily on iso routes and man beaters since they only have 2 WRs now that can win in those situations now that Tony is gone. They have to be willing to do more crossing routes, smoke routes, bubble screens, reverses, end-arounds to get the ball into Hester and Douglas's hands. Those are the areas where they can shine (see Donnie Avery). Asking them to try to win 1 on 1 is just setting up this offense for failure.

The Falcons need to feature Roddy in the slot more, move him and Julio around. Keep defenses guessing. If they want to run more max protect, 7-man protections and send Roddy, Julio, & Hester deep and have Ryan throw it deep. I'd like to see that become the bread and butter of the Falcons offense. And with Asamoah, a healthy Baker, and possibly drafting an OT like Matthews you have the pieces to have a competent if not good OL.

Run more zone runs now that you have Asamoah, and definitely if you draft Matthews. Feature Quizz on the edge more. And draft a RB that has big play speed.

If you get Robinson, then maybe you wanna stick the power run game, and get more of a bruising interior RB to develop.

The Falcons have to find ways of being more explosive. They need more splash plays to their offense. The problem is that playing to live/die by the big play doesn't bring consistency, and we know that Mike Smith is ALL ABOUT being consistent. But what winds up happening is that all the trial/error that you go through the regular season makes you more prepared for the postseason.

I really can't see it much better than that.....I've never been a NOLAN fan and to turn us into a 3-4 is not the answer in my opinion.

I guess it depends on the question... If the question is, "does switching to a 3-4 automatically make us better?" The answer is no. If the question is, "Does switching to a 3-4 make it easier to obtain players," then the answer is possibly. if the question is, "Is there anything that we can try to get this defense out of the gutter," then switching to a 3-4 base was not a bad idea.

I've been saying for a while that the problem with our defense was the lack of a defined goal. The front office was throwing pieces together, but the pieces never seemed to work together. With Nolan calling the shots, he made a decision, which to me, was a lot better than what was happening before. Pudge and I have argued at length whether we should continue with, "the hybrid scheme," or if we should pick a base package and run with it. It looks like we'll finally get to see what happens when they pick a base package.

Now, I have always been a supporter of the 3-4 defense. I believe that it allows you to be more creative, and that it's easier to find players to fit your scheme. That said, I didn't really care if the Falcons decided to go 3-4 or 4-3, so long as there was a definitive focus on going one way or the other, and not trying to mix and match.

Well People who love Ryan don't seem to agree that his arm strength doesn't really zipthe ball down the field as say Brady's does. Its not a weak arm, but the longer passes has seemed in the past to float to often. I like Ryan, just accept his limitations.......

Their's no doubt if we're keeping most of what we've kept we need to play different football.Maybe the 3-4 will be what Rob hopes it will be; and maybe I'll start feeling like Ryan wants to throw long!! I really believe Smith wants to do whatever works!! A better offensive line just makes things easier. As does a good defensive line (not rocket science).

This is a completely different discussion, but I believe that the year before last, most people were happy with Ryan's ability to throw the deep ball. The myth is that he can't do it. The reality is that this coaching staff doesn't ask him to do it very often. People who go to the games often comment on the lack of deep routes. We don't avoid deep routes because Ryan can't throw it long. We don't take many deep shots because that's not what they want to do.

Julio Jones was a forcing of the hand. When he was around, we HAD to throw the ball deep to justify trading the farm to get him. Once he was out of the picture, the deep game went with him.

Now, I also believe that the weak offensive line plays into the situation as well, however, I really think that it starts with the coaching. There's a reason that the coaching staff tolerated having a weak offensive line, and it's because they aren't concerned with throwing the ball deep. They literally want to dink and dunk their way down the field.

If you think adding Devon Hester will improve our passing game you are sadly mistaken, his career stats blow and he has said repeatedly he doesn't want to be a reciever. If you think he's better than Harry Douglas your delusional. Look at the stats, Harry almost had more yards last year than Hester has had in the last 4 that's right 4, and Hester is two years older

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